Third Planet from Nowhere David C Kopaska-Merkel The water bill’s through the roof The local pawnshop won’t take Ultrapure gold anymore FBI and IRS have both been by (Thank Tech for the Memory-Erasing Ray!) The basement lab uses SO MUCH water Even 90% effluent…

Tuesdays In Heaven David Barber Chet hovered in the foyer of Total Immersion Software, radiating unease until a salesman detached himself from the front desk. Professionals paid for people, not virtuals. “Help you?” The salesman sported fashionable periodwear, tight dark suit and tie, with…

The Keepsaker David Batteiger Emily stood tip-toe on a wobbly stool, fingertips grazing the edge of something at the back of a high, dusty shelf. Straining further, the stool tilting on two legs, she urged the object closer. Her fingers wrapped around it and…

Leviathan David Barber Out of nowhere. Surfacing with a surge and suck of gravity that made the Earth flex in torment. No time to explain. It raced the wavefront of catastrophe, but sniffing a waterworld and with true sentience so precious, it snatched at…

Area 51 David Barber Even with the device turned off and tombed in concrete, we are still haunted by ghosts of histories that are not our own, remembering cosmonauts fêted through New York in blizzards of ticker-tape; or the launching of Apollo 20 on…

Hail to the Vestal David Powell Hail to the Vestal New slang couldn’t be ignored. Slang had a way of sticking in the public mind. A joke could become a medical diagnosis, or a spiritual doctrine, or a revolutionary slogan. Birun flipped to record…

AR: How did you get into writing? Dave: I wanted to write from an early age. My childhood was unusually traumatic. So much so, I sought refuge, if you will, in fiction. The works of Edgar Rice Burroughs were a particular fave. But I…

A Voyage to the Moon David C. Kopaska-Merkel The open window welcomes the night: a cornucopia of urgency, noises sharp and subtle, night’s warm breath framed by southern oak. I read now by moonlight, alone, ensconced in the window seat, the pages brimming with…

Ragnarock David Barber Rona Lal was not the oldest woman alive, but certainly the oldest with the brain she was born with. Rona no longer remembered her exact age, but the entelechy did, and arranged a surprise for her birthday. There would be a…

Land Sharks David C. Kopaska-Merkel A second chance crawling out of the sea , Bewildered by what they found, And didn’t find, But lobe-finned sharks quickly got a handle On the whole terrestrial thing, They diversified, filled empty niches , Eventually a few began…

A Conversation with David Drake Eric S Brown Most people recognize David Drake’s name from his Hammer’s Slammer or RCN Military SF series but his career actually began in the horror genre. His first sale was made to August Derleth, editor of Arkham House….

Swallowing It All Whole Kendall Evans and David C. Kopaska-Merkel These are the longitudes and latitudes On the split/curved landscape separating fact from fiction. Beyond these easy curves—who can say? Here, expressed like a Monopoly board, A map of realms demarcating the boundary between…

Bring Me Moa David C. Kopaska-Merkel Look at it 12 feet tall quarter of a ton that’s a gol durn dinosaur why did it take Cretaceous feathers for us to see? Ponderous tread Earth shook when those giant 3-toed feet struck the ground. Bring…

Winner Winner by David Castlewitz Dinner with the star of Madam Murder didn’t meet Tony Pink’s expectations. When he complained to the director, he got back a long stare followed by a mild chuckle. “She’s not real, you know. She’s a cartoon.” The cast…

Mid-Life David Russell So much happened; So much didn’t – So nice to remember; So painful to recall Now nothing is all, The power to recall Is an anaesthetic – Past strength Is pathetic. In the middle, What’s kept still here What was and…

Communication David Russell He handled his language as he fried his eggs: There was tension between the respective softnesses Of his egg and the cooking fat – Dependent on extreme alternation of heat and cold, Confinement in shell melting out of shape Solid outside…

Work out of Progress David Russell I suppose it must all go on indefinitely – Just when I thought it had all been played out, All become superfluous. I am at the stage of universal discarding; I suppose that many people see, through several…

Common Sense David Russell The sea turns sound to touch The wind blows touch to smell The sun turns sight to touch The grasses smell taste to touch The animals taste smell to see The setting of sets charge to five together Yet there…

Electro-Magnetic Love David Russell She said – you are my current, my three-pointed plug Yet I am the wound flex; the wiring behind the walls is mine – When I say ‘Halt!’ go no further; the wiring is dislocated from you The very suggestion…

In Transit David Russell Unemployed’s tube journey: For those safe, definable few minutes there is the duality Of oneself and the comfort of the seat – the circle; Seal; it chops perfectly, crossing the antilinear. It induces connexity; the most complete awareness of the…

Panic David Russell A search for some trivial object in the midst of disordered furniture Seized upon just at that moment, giving birth to consternation Repulsion from travelling delayed by this selection; Travelling light, splitting energy-wholes into petty onenesses – At one with invisibility…

Early to Rise David Russell In vigour, he did the splits in freedom In free vigour, he did the splits Freely, he did the splits in vigour, With vigour, he did the splits freely Vigorously, he did the free splits – He split vigorously…

Carnival David Russell That peacock opulence, Swarming on strutting grime; That massed ecstasy, squeezing itself, Short-breathed, near suffocation; That sound-abandonment, seeming to plunge To deafness’s peace; Yet keeping those maimed faculties alive, Ever denying their last fulfilment. Maybe it’s only I and it,…

Discourse David Russell He was the foam on the backwash of conversation, Repelled by the safety-pier; Seeming to crave a knife to answer The upward wave-choppings, He felt as if there were an invisible plastic partition Segmenting the round, globular flatness Of all within…

Disintegration David Russell The bottom fell out And all things gathered, Reverted to their origins In skips, on pavements, Fell to casual hands. But at the pit Of all exhaustion, The bottom of grip’s loss Are seeds and roots Of restoration Which in throbbing…

Checkpoint David Russell Lurching, they bluster – ghouls into the chasm. Fierce lava, blowing, nullifies their fall And dissipates harsh gravity’s concussion, Forces a seething screen of phoenix cowardice, Leaping to swell Into a fresh, mendacious crust, Tripping and throttling the led Into…

Scorpion David Russell I touched a scorpion; it struck. It was my fault; I had been warned – But for one split second Its beauty-fascination wrenched me From reason’s ice. I don’t think anyone could find a scorpion ugly, They shine too. Writhing and…

With Respect to the Whale David Russell Oh, man – foul carnivore! Gorging beyond all need for sustenance, Gorging beyond even your body’s bounds! And is this a fixation on your prey, A lust for prey-communion? Willing your own, final annihilation By…

Clouds David Russell In chroniclers’ minds Past wars all went full circle Making great urban filth destroy itself So that the finest flowers and shrubs Could sprout at random. And birds, in exultation Or happy in their ignorance Made rills of melody Now man…

Earthquake David Russell What happened? There was a fault. What’s a fault? It’s when one piece of the earth juts above another. Why does that happen? Because the explosion down below Goes on forever. But was that fault anybody’s? It was the earth’s; it’s…

Fast Lane David Russell Let’s get in the fast lane – Rip off the doors and slice the breezes; Let’s get in the fast lane – Thread the highway through a needle. We can loop the date-line In a coral reef-knot; Turn our jet-lag…

Space Capsule Volunteer David Russell The final pull of severance will magnify you The downward controls make you equal to the general gravitation You are higher than the air, and so you leave, You are bigger than the air, and so you breathe…

Power Kernels David Russell Break down the elements, split them To non-existence; Then shatter all solidity’s illusions, Free impulses Beyond the viscous mind, still feeling hard By vanity’s gas upholstered. And then, for happiness’s definition, Shut the door; Relax, and don’t be squeamish; For…

Beyond the Mad/Funhouse David C. Kopaska-Merkel Kendall Evans She is underlit There atop the cathedral madhouse As if by the floor lights of a stage Illumination ascending, spotlighting mercilessly Casting crowraven shadows of features and form All in the…

Recursion David C. Kopaska-Merkel Kendall EvansWhere’s this starship been Resembling a pretzel Infinite figure 8 Maybe a moebius Nor-easterlies, or their 4D equivalent From another universe Might be responsible Or some minor deity’s Momentary inattention Its unscarred surface Belies the great age That seems…

The Station Master Nearly Always Runs the Trains on Time David C. Kopaska-Merkel Kendall EvansIn the morning’s roaring rain The driving outrageous migraine pain I disobeyed the Station Master’s instructions Despite his threats of Post-mortem punishments And repercussions yet more direI never told how…

Corrected Maps of your City David C. Kopaska-Merkel Kendall EvansEvery convenience store has them: So shiny and bright, Each street name legible, They fold and refold perfectly (Your first clue they are alien technology) Behind your building, no-name alley, You know, the one with…

Robo-Cat® David C. Kopaska-MerkelNo messy hairballs with Robo-Cat® Pet is pre-programmed and pre-trained, but be forewarned: Though great to have around the house, Robo-Cat® Is extremely playful; be sure to secure your computer mouses This is one high-maintenance mechanical pet Picking mouse gears from…

Wicked child!David C. Kopaska-MerkelKendall EvansMomshealwaysembarrassedyou when she was withyou remember when she wrote inthe sky “surrender Dorothy!” you thought that was sorude you wanted to drift awayyou rid yourself of her but you’rejust likethat witchThe end

I Am He As You Are They And We Are All TogetherDavid C. Kopaska-MerkelKendall EvansIn the beginning the word was, I’m told,We all wanted to be a part of something biggerWe sacrificed mobility but gained collective strength,Our numbers covering a great deal of territoryIn…

The Third Planetor, Something Had to be DoneDavid C. Kopaska-MerkelKendall EvansThe blues of seas, the aquamarinesWhite whorls of cloudThe sun-struck tans and brownsOf continents with tailsAnd trailing islandsAs if the Coriolis force affects them too–The third planet: thin-skinned, touchy,Not a particularly good neighbor,Prone to…

Dragon’s TeethDavid C. Kopaska-Merkel and Kendall EvansOur teeth fell out like seedsThe new children of MedeaCanines:Extinct species resurrecting,White-feathered dinosaurs,Albino Dire Wolves and Deadly ManticoresProwling the arctic’s equatorial islandsIncisors:Our own ancestors,Giant rats,Camels like giraffesBicuspids:Rhinos 11 feet high at the shoulderSabred cats and sharksA chitinous group-mindMolars:Groves…

Anieth features online fantasy graphic novels for YA and up. A.R. Stone has also created cards and prints highlighting European mythology. This site is a must for lovers of ancient Europe, Wiccan, Celtic and Viking lore.

Metastable Systems – speculative poetry from David Kopaska-Merkel. Available in all standard E-book formats